UMass, Clark, city of Worcester to work together on health goals

Thursday

Feb 27, 2014 at 6:42 PM

WORCESTERó The city, UMass Memorial Medical Center and Clark University will partner to create a new Academic Health Department, the university announced Wednesday.

Under the partnership, the partners will hire a liaison to better incorporate the university in the city's Community Health Improvement Plan. The plan brings together institutions from across the Worcester area with a goal of making the city the healthiest in New England by 2020.

During an event Wednesday evening, that attracted more than 100 health care leaders and others, the city announced that it was chosen for a $7 million federal grant to support its programming. Several other grants are being pulled in to tackle issues ranging from systematic racism to community violence and primary care.

The city will also launch a Web page to show progress on the plan, including efforts to combat asthma, obesity and other chronic diseases.